The present invention relates to a seat for infants. More particularly, the present invention relates to an infant seating structure designed to be positioned upon a floor or other safe, flat support surface which provides a contained, structural support especially suited for an infant unable to support him/herself in a sitting up position on their own.
Various types of seating structures are known which are directed toward infants and small children that cannot yet support their own bodies in an upright position (e.g., sitting-up). These include seating designed to be attached to another object, for example a high chair or an adult chair (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,871,210 and 5,996,153); seating designed to support a child in the bath (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,433); and seating designed as a stand-alone seat to support a child in a seated position (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,840,916; 6,000,761 and 6,049,929). Still other commonly known child seating structures include the so-called xe2x80x9cwalkersxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9csaucersxe2x80x9d where the child""s legs are passed through openings in a suspended seat which is incorporated into a rigid support frame surrounding the child""s torso.
While it is of course a main object of an infant seat to effectively support the infant in the intended position, it is also desirable to allow the infant a range of movement so that the infant may safely interact with his/her immediate surroundings to permit enhanced visual, touch and other motor stimulation for the infant. It is thus also desirable that the infant be able use and develop the muscles which contribute to the infant being able to balance themselves in a sitting up position. The seating structures of the prior art are typically very confining to the infant and thus do not provide an enhanced range of movement for the infant. The prior seating structures also typically lack features permitting adjustment of the seat to allow the infant to be placed in a variety of different support positions.
The present invention addresses the deficiencies of prior infant seating structures by providing, in a first aspect, an infant seat which provides multiple support features in a single seating system which allow the infant an enhanced range of movement within the seat while also providing upright support for the infant. The inventive seat is particularly suited for an infant that is not yet fully able to balance him/herself in a sitting-up position. At this stage of an infant""s development (typically around the age of about 3 to about 6 months, although this of course may vary according to the particular individual), the infant may be seated in an upright position but usually immediately tips over. As physical development continues, the infant may stay sitting up anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two, but usually eventually loses his/her balance and tips over. The infant can fall from the sitting-up position in any direction about a full 360xc2x0 perimeter about the infant (i.e., the infant may tip forward, backward or sideways). Once the infant has lost its balance and fallen over, it usually cannot return to a sitting-up position without adult assistance. Thus, while an adult may wish for the infant to be able to practice sitting-up by themselves, they find that in order to do this, they must remain at the infant""s side to help maintain the infant""s balance and upright the infant when the infant falls over. The present invention successfully addresses this long-existing problem by providing an infant seat that functions to assist an infant in maintaining their balance while in a sitting-up position about a full 360xc2x0 perimeter of the infant. Thus, should the infant begin to tip in any direction, their body will encounter and be supported by one or more of the side supports 16a-d so that they do not tip fully over. This encourages the infant to use his/her own body muscles to return to the sitting-up position. The inventive seat achieves this advantage without being overly restrictive to the infant""s body movements directed toward play and learning about their surroundings (e.g., while reaching for a toy).
In a second aspect, the inventive seat with the above functional attributes may be made to resemble a flower or the like. The inventive seat is thus not only extremely effective at providing support for an infant in the sitting-up position as explained above, but also cleverly combines function and form by configuring the various elements thereof into a form which resembles practically any type of flower as desired (e.g., a rose, a daisy, a black-eyed susan, a sunflower, etc.). The seating structure may thus be made to resemble a flower with multiple side supports constructed to resemble the petals of the flower, the center of which representing the center of the flower. In the preferred embodiment, the seating structure is a xe2x80x9csoft sculpturexe2x80x9d, meaning that it is made of fabric and is stuffed with a soft material such as polyester, for example. The xe2x80x9cflower petalsxe2x80x9d comprising the side supports of the seating structure are preferably individually and continuously adjustable both inwardly toward the center (to provide a more upright, vertical support) and outwardly (to provide a more xe2x80x9claid backxe2x80x9d support, approaching the horizontal position).